The Vengeance of Their Children
by oturlu
Summary: When a parent dies and the other goes into depression, a child ends up taking on their responsibilites; but for Marco's older sister, balancing those responsibilities with college and work is becoming a problem. To top it off she's starting to realizes that her mother's death might have something to do wih The Sharing. At least she's not alone in her theory. OCxOC please R
1. Chapter 1: My name is Camille

**Author's Note: Hello fellow Animorphs fans! This happens to be my first every fanfiction for Animorphs, and since I've been a fan since the series first came out, it was highly overdue. I hope if you happen to stumble upon this that you enjoy it and hang around for the next chapter. As everyone knows, sometimes it's hard to write a good first chapter that will grab the readers... in my case it was definetly a challenge because I was more focused on where things were going. Regardless I hope you enjoy it and that you get a chance to review. I would love to hear what you all think of this, but please be polite. Constructive critiscism makes the world a better place... being obnoxious just gets you banned from sites lol.****This will be an OCxOC fic for anyone who's wondering but both OCs have connections to the main cast of Animorphs.**

**Oh! Before I forget Camille is Marco's HALF sister, the family tree will unfold in a later chapter but I figured I should put that out there for people wondering why she refers to Marco's dad as Peter.**

The Vengeance of Children: Intro

My name is Camille, and I knew from the start that something was wrong in my mother's life; I just never expected her strange behavior to lead our family to a funeral with an empty casket… a casket she was supposed to be inside.

My brother was hugging me, a rare sign of affection from any junior high student but even more so for one who was always trying to prove that he was as much of a "man" as the boys who already had their growth spurts. I tried to rub his back to comfort him but instead a strangled whimper came from his small frame and he began to shake. He was still a little boy, in every way, why was Peter making him sit through this fake funeral? I pulled him into a tight hug and made quieting noises as the priest continued to give his blessing.

Peter scooted closer to us from his seat next to Marco and put his hand on Marco's lap so that he could grab it for extra strength if he wanted. Marco saw his father's hand from the corner of his eye and turned just enough to firmly grasp it in his own before burying his face into my hair and sobbing. Peter covered Marco's tears by giving him a way to show strength to the crowd and the ones that were harder to hide were buried in my hair where his swollen face was sheltered.

We were all devastated. It had been ages since she went missing. We refused to have a funeral, refused to give up hope, but when you find a completely decimated boat that belonged to an unseasoned sailor who went out by herself into a storm… the facts all added up to a 1% chance of survival. Peter thought that this ceremony would give us closure, but it only opened the wound. Yes we had been bleeding to death before, but at least no one had to see the gash it was coming from; until now.

Peter was hollow and unsure. I watched him stare at the priest and noticed how his bottom lip was trembling. The love of his life was gone. Marco was trying to let all of his emotions out. If he had been younger I wouldn't have been surprised to see him throw himself on the floor and pound his fists into the ground. Me, I wanted to run. I wanted to scream everything that I knew about my mother instead of listening to others speak about her. Then I would run as far away from the cemetery as I could until common scene washed over me again and all the adrenaline was drained from me.

I looked back at Marco. I looked at Peter. If I ran for even a second they would both collapse. I had to stay as close as possible to keep them safe, but school would be starting soon and I was already accepted at the local university with a good scholarship. I even had a deposit on a small apartment near the campus.

I knew then I would probably not be able to save my family, but as the last matriarch I had to try.

~Two Years Later~

"Cami! Jesus H Christ will you pick up your food?!" Carl screamed from behind the line as he smacked his tongs against the stove in anger. I had heard him screaming from the dining room; how nice for my customers.

I wasn't that late picking up my food, it had probably been up for two seconds, but Carl liked to show power so screaming to the world that I messed up was the thrill of his life.

"Well Jesus Christo to you too!" I grumbled "I heard you holler before you even bothered to page me." I had just stepped into dangerous territory. See, you don't fight with someone who has the power to fire you, and you definitely don't fight with someone who can make you look like you're doing a bad job, and if they happen to be the people who make your food… well there's a reason why they say not to bite the hand that feeds you.

Thankfully I had worked at The Primrose since I started school and had been working in restaurants since I was fifteen. I wasn't irreplaceable by any means but it was easier to sort things out then to fire me over something stupid and go through trying to train someone. I gave Carl a smile as his eyes glimmered; he might not fire me but he sure as hell loved a good fight.

"What you've worked here for 2 years and you still don't know how things work? Do you want me to-"

"-Love you Carl! Mwah mwah mwah!" I said grabbing my food and making kissy faces as I backed out of the kitchen laughing. A little laugh, a little flirt, I was set for a few more hours.

I dropped off my food, and made small talk with a couple of regulars before starting my side work. It was a slow night, but even a terrible night at The Primrose meant over $60 in my pocket. I had probably made about $80 off of the business I had during the five hours in worked tonight; God bless regular customers!

"You're saving that for your brother aren't cha?" Katrina asked as I flipped through my money. Katrina had come to California from Dallas in hopes of being an actress, but after a couple of low paying commercials and two kids, she was too concerned with paying for her kids school clothes to memorizing lines for whatever new show HBO was hiring for. However, she loved her job as a waitress and the customers loved her back. She could talk anyone into buying whatever special the chefs wanted to be sold out of and had just the right amount of devilish smile for the men at her tables that the women they came in with felt lucky to be with them. Having Katrina as your waitress was like hiring someone to convince you that you were God's gift to earth, and the customers ate it up. However there was one thing Katrina could never sell me into.

"Darlin' you know The Sharing has plenty of programs and scholarships for kids like Marco. They can even help you dad find a new job, they-"

"Really Katrina? How much have they helped you with getting your career as an A-list celebrity going hm? Oh wait, they-" Katrina's face fell. "Katrina I'm sorry, I just… we aren't looking for charity. This family has been through a lot since my mom went missing and the last thing we need is to be a made into the poster family for the welfare system."

"It's all right Camille I know you don't mean anything by it, but honey this is a good opportunity for you. The Sharing is very discreet about the way it helps people, we would never make your family into a publicity stunt. Eva used to be a member and she loved it." Wow, Katrina had bounced back from that quickly. I probably would have been in a mood if someone had snapped at me like that, but here she was acting like solving my problems was her only purpose in life.

"I know she did. I just… well it feels strange to go back there." Strange was right. A couple months into joining the sharing my mother had started to act like one of those people who claim to be 'born again'. She bought a boat, she set goals and loudly announced the dreams she was going to conquer. She was the definition of an optimist, and the love she gave us was overwhelming; especially towards me.

She spoiled me and, until The Sharing, a spoiled child was something she had raised me to never become. She would take me out for 'girl time' every Sunday after church, buy me expensive clothes, pay for me to get my hair and nails done, and I told myself that it was all just a fear of losing me once I went to college; but I knew there was something more. I had woken up quite a few times to find her sitting next to me and stroking my hair. That in itself was strange, but sometimes I would catch her speaking to herself.

"_French and Hispanic… my, what a lovely mix. This one will do well, she has potential. Maybe someday I'll trade up, discard you and take a younger host instead. Start a fresh life!"_

As much as I knew I should pretend to still be sleeping, I could never keep my eyes from opening when I heard her speak like that. When she realize I was awake she would giggle out an embarrassed apology like a school girl getting caught in the boy's locker room, kiss me goodnight, and leave me confused and frightened.

I didn't know what to think. I guess I was frightened that one day I would wake up and find her standing over me with a butcher knife; I wouldn't have been surprised to hear her say she wanted to wear my skin, in fact sometimes her muttering seemed to insinuate it. It was like a stalker trying to figure out everything about a victim they barely knew; but she was my mother, she knew everything about me, but at night it was like a stranger was figuring me out all over again. I didn't know why it was happening, but I did know that it started after she joined The Sharing's inner circle.

"Just think about it okay? We consider our members family and having your family back with us would be a beautiful miracle. Until then we'll always be sendin' you and your family positive and energy," and as she said it she grabbed my hands and gave them a squeeze while giving me an understanding smile.

I smiled back at her as she walked away. _'Cult! Poisoned Cool-Aid! Human sacrifice! People rejected from Scientology for being too extreme!'_ was what my mind scream at me as I watched her retreating figure, but for some reason I couldn't help but consider her offer. Not because I wanted to be a part of The Sharing, but because maybe I could figure out a little more about my mother's behavior before her death, and honestly, we could use the money they had to offer.

The Sharing had made my mother change in unexplainable ways. Most of them were pleasant changes… but those late night mumbling were more than concerning. If you tied that in with the fact that she bought the boat she died on because her stupid cult told her to follow her dreams of being a sailor then it seemed clear that they had something more to them than being a family friendly organization.

"Katrina wait up! Is- when does the sharing meet?" Katrina grinned from ear to gaudy earring-ed ear.

"Oh Cami! You have no idea how happy that makes me!" she squeeled as she ran over to embrace me. "We have a meeting this Wednesday, have Sasha cover your shift and I'll pick you up around 4:00, and uhh…wear something cute. Nothing too special, just a little sundress or something. There's a lot of cute boys your age, you might catch a few eyes" she said with an overdramatic wink and a giggle.

I laughed and rolled my eyes at the thought. I didn't realize that I really would be catching some eyes at The Sharing; and I definitely didn't realize that they wouldn't be human.

**Well that's the first chapter! Comments, questions, just leave a review :)! I hope you're interested enough to see how things will unfold for Camille.  
****loves,  
****oturlu**


	2. Chapter 2: Like AA and The Boy Scouts

**AU: Hello again and welcome to the second chapter of my story! This chapter will be brief and give you a little bit more about Camille and the Sharing, including what I felt the public sees them as and what they claim to be. It is still a prelude to the real action, but that will come soon enough.**

**Please R&R! Also, many thanks to _Salad Shooter_ for being the first person to leave a review. I just started reading her story and I suggest checking it out. It's an interesting look into Visser Three's life from before the war, and if you like stories like the Hork Bajir Chronicles that give you a look into the Alien's minds the way I do then it would probably interest you too.**

**K.A. Applegate owns the majority of my life including most characters and ideas for this story.**

Chapter 2: Like AA and The Boy Scouts

I hate waiting for people to pick me up. I hate it even more than most people because of my undying need to keep people out of my apartment. I could say that it's something to do with territory, privacy or something else, and it is in a way, but mainly I'm just a slob. No one's called a rescue squad to unbury me from my hoarding, but it is messy. The way I see it I do enough cleaning up at work, and for Peter and Marco, so when I get home I should relax. That was why I had been sitting in front of my window trying to smooth the one stubborn crease in my white and yellow sundress for over half an hour.

The second I saw Katrina's forest green minivan pull up to the apartment I booked it out the door to meet her before she could get out of her car. She seemed surprised to see me running to her car, but she slowly moved the leg that she had dangling out of her opened car door back in and sheepishly waved at me.

"Well hey there Camille! I didn't think you'd be ready yet. Hop on in."

"You know I'm always prepared," I said with a laugh; and I wasn't joking. I once was so over prepared that I spent two and a half hours pacing next to a window waiting for my date to bring me to the movies, so waiting half an hour for Katrina was no big deal. I strapped in and tried to get comfortable in the seat that was pulled back for someone with much longer legs than mine.

"So what happens at these meetings, is it all games and organized activities? A free for all? Barbeque? Speeches?"

I had gone with my mother to some of the awards ceremonies where they invite the families of their members and it had always been a giant celebration with loads of food. However, when it came to the groups regular activities I knew squat. I knew that they were obsessed with community and had always pictured something like the Girl Scouts, but I also knew that there were elite members and I could never picture what they did during the meetings. Perhaps this inner circle was just in charge of paperwork and planning, all I knew was when my mother was made a part of it she made it very clear that her acceptance was an honor.

"Actually you picked a great time to start coming to our meetings, tonight we're having a little pot luck-movie night. We're watching _Finding Nemo_!"

"Aww nice, I love that movie." I said with a dopey smile. I probably seemed a little too excited, but I was only grinning like an idiot to hide the nagging feeling screaming "danger!" in the back of my mind.

'_Seriously Camille? Disney! It's a freakin' Disney movie, and an adorable one at that! Stop thinking these poor people are going to try and harvest your organs'_ I internally screamed at the voice.

'_And that's exactly why you should be pee-your-pants-scared'_ the voice countered. _'They picked the most congenial movie of all time to draw in their prey!'_

I like to think of myself as a fairly level-headed person when it comes to most things, but my sense of imagination was going to earn me a visit to a padded room if I didn't get it under control quickly.

Katrina continued to titter on about how wonderful The Sharing was and I continue to nod and grin even though I wasn't paying attention. She just needed to think I was interested and let me into their world. I didn't need to hear every bit of drabble on how they were the best organization in the world, but if listening to it helped my cause then I would do it.

"-and if we're lucky you might even get to say hi to Mr. Trent! I'm sure he'd love to see you again," Katrina said and it took me a minute to shake myself out of my pondering and realize I had no idea who she was talking about.

"Umm Mr. Trent?" I asked stupidly.

"The head of our local branch? He took over for poor Mr. O'Conner who passed away a couple of years ago. He's a lovely man, came from nothing and worked his way up to the American dream- come on Cami, you must remember him, he worked with your mother on a lot of things," She seemed distraught that I did not remember their golden leader.

The truth was that I was usually hiding when I went to the ceremonies with my family. I would get bored with the speeches and either go stuff my face, fix my makeup, or play with the little kids who were usually thrilled to have a "grown up" play with them. I probably had met Mr. Trent, but I had shaken a lot of hands at those stupid events and I had never been good with names. My mom had a lot of friends from The Sharing, so one more name was just white noise.

"It's been years since I went to one of these and there was usually a huge crowd. Lots of names and face you know?" I responded.

"Tallish guy, middle aged, brown hair, hazel eyes, strong looking, handsome…"

I smirked as I folded my arms across my chest.

"You're just upset that I can't remember your crush." I playfully scolded.

"Wha- ?" She asked flabbergasted. "No, no, no trust me Victor Trent is an incredible man, but he has no interest in me." She didn't sound as if she was lying or denying an attraction, but she did sound confident in her answer. She managed to keep her face blank as she said it, but her eyes held a fiery pride in them. What was that pride?

"Is he gay?" I asked and she laughed a little.

"Not that I know of; he's kinda married to his work. He keeps to himself outside of the club, but his entire life has been dedicated to making sure everyone who joins us is getting the full experience. We always have a lot of fun at The Sharing, but there is more to us than that, we teach a discipline that guarantees success, and Mr. Trent is one of the best leaders we've ever had," she said. This was where her pride was coming from.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. That mindset was identical to the one my mother gained after she entered their inner circle. She was all about confidence and spreading the word for universal success.

"Well how do you 'guarantee successes'? I mean that's a broad statement to make for so many people. And how do you measure success anyways?" I asked. I hoped I wasn't prying too much or too soon, but it was a legitimate question. Telling people that they would be guaranteed a victory or state of mind was a risky business.

"Aw don't worry honey, I was a skeptic too when I first joined. You'll understand more if you start coming more often, but in the meantime, think about what it did for my life. I was a broke, single mom, with two babies crawling into everything. I could barely pay the bills, I was skipping meals to buy essentials for my kids, and then someone from The Sharing tells me that they can help me turn my life around.

"They took care of me like I was family, they helped me feed and clothe my kids, and they watched them so I could go out and find a better job to support them. Heck one of my friends from The Sharing is watching them for free tonight because she knew how important it was for me to bring you- oh don't worry I'm still gonna pay her a little something and maybe buy her a little treat from that cute candy store on Laurel Street, but anyways, you start with an outpouring of support until you are ready you become a supporter. Once you reach that elite level you get to work on your own goals and watch them, and those of the members you help, blossom." As she finished I realized that we had arrived and were parked in front of a large, plain building that The Sharing had recently bought and renovated for some of their functions.

Katrina's speech was like the ones you saw on pamphlets for almost any similar organization. It was like AA met The Boy scouts and their graduate was asked to give a statement. Still though, it was a heartwarming speech. I knew Katrina well enough to verify that what she said was true. She had come to The Primrose a little after I had and although her job experience was average, half of her references had been from The Sharing and they had given her rave reviews to help her earn the job.

We both hoped out of the car and I straightened out my dress as I walked over to Katrina who was looking me up and down.

"You look so pretty in that little checked dress!" she cooed. "You should wear yellow more often, it makes you glow. Oh I hope we find you a nice boy tonight!"

I rolled my eyes. What was it with every woman I knew trying to marry me off? I muttered a "great" but tried to give a playful smile, as if I was interested, and followed her into my first meeting as a guest of The Sharing.

**Well that's it for now! I should have a new chapter up soon and we'll be meeting our other main character next time, so I hope you stick around for more. Please review!  
loves,  
oturlu**


	3. Chapter 3: Pompous Stutterers and IT

**Author's Note: welcome to the next chapter! As promised my second main character will be introduced in this chapter, therefore there's a lot of "in Cami's mind" moments to help explain the characters. I hope you like it!**

**K.A. Appelgate owns Animorphs and its universe, I own the scraps of ideas that are inspired by it.**

Chapter Three: Pompous Stutterers and IT

Katrina led me into the gym-style function hall that was filled with small round tables near the entrance, a 20 foot long buffet table where members were dropping off the various casseroles and desserts they had made, and a large clearing in front of a projector screen that was quickly becoming inhabited by throw blankets and sleeping bags.

"Err- should I have brought something," I asked as I inclined my head towards the blankets. Katrina, who had already pulled a tin casserole plate with a baked dip in it and a massive bag of tortilla chips out of her Mary Poppins bag, patted the side of it to indicate that she had us covered. I was starting to feel a little wary of the dip considering it had been stored in a bag with all of this woman's belongings and her blanket (nothing like lint-dip to say 'welcome to our club'). Katrina excused herself to go find us a spot and suggested that I look around.

I saw some familiar faces: the Vice Principal of my old school, the now not-so-little Tommy Burnson strutting past some girls, a heavily freckled auburn haired girl named Rory that was a grade below me in high school, and one young man who I knew pretty well named Austin.

Austin went to the local University with me and I had to admit that I had a small crush on him. He had an average height and build, but he seemed to work out a little from the looks of his broad shoulders. His hair was brown, not light chestnut, not brown-ish black: perfect medium brown. It was like the color that they gave brunette Barbie to make her more universal. He seemed to be Caucasian, but there was a healthy olive tone to his skin that made him look naturally tanned. If I had to lay my money down I'd say he was a mix like me or maybe Mediterranean, especially because of his eyes; they were a perfectly pale blue. Most people have a little fleck of a different color in their eyes, especially since most people have at least one direct ancestor with a different colored eye than theirs, but Austin's eyes were a seemingly clear blue. He was gorgeous, he was available, he was close to me… but he was "different".

For starters, Austin had what I can only describe as a speech impediment; a really strange one. It was like a stutter but instead of getting stuck on a sound before the word was completed, Austin would finish his word or sentence and then repeat the sounds that had sounded strange to him. It might have been a form of OCD or a legitimate speech impediment, but it deterred a lot of people from speaking to Austin. There was no denying that the things Austin said were intelligent, but they were almost always followed by that awkward moment where would waggle his tongue around and try to see how many ways he could create a similar sound.

The second problem that he had was the way he ate. To be honest, I was kind of jealous of how he ate. Austin ate things the way kids do when they think no one is looking and always enjoyed them more than anyone I had ever seen.

For example there was the time that Austin discovered chocolate chip muffins. He sat at our table for probably an hour, dissecting the top half of the muffin from the bottom, nibbling the hard rim of the muffin top with the tips of his front teeth, and plucking the individual chips from the pastry before popping them in his mouth and using his tongue to visibly swish them around his mouth until they were disintegrated. He was enjoying himself so much that he was letting out moans of pleasure that were making people nearby blush, and I could have sworn I saw tears of pleasure in his eyes. When he was finished he ate the wrapper.

Everyone gets the urge to indulge in pleasures such as enjoying the texture of a muffin, or testing their own voice, but doing so in public was more than a little peculiar. Even so, I understood where he was coming from and whether it was out of compassion or attraction I dismissed it, but there was one more prominent issue: Austin was a pompous ass!

He had a free ride to the university and could have gone to Harvard medical or MIT, but instead seemed determined to work in the University's particle physics program. He had said before that it was an important field and that he felt at home there. Despite what he said, he seemed to have little spats with a one of the assistants there on a fairly regular basis.

He also had small confrontations with anyone who was stupid enough to bring up math, science, or artistic taste around him. The only way you were safe from criticism was if you avoided intellectual conversation or were talking about history and literature. That was how we became "friends".

Austin had driven so many people away with his behaviors that I was one of the only people who knew him and was willing to speak with him. He seemed content with solitude, but that was demolished by his need to be a know-it-all. He wanted to know everything he could about history and literature, and since I was going to school with a goal to teach English, I was one of the few people he seemed to genuinely want to talk to.

But here he was… sitting awkwardly with a few other people around our age, not bothering to speak, getting ready to watch Finding Nemo. I had never seen someone so out of their element. As I approached, he spotted me and his face lit up as a smile crept onto his handsome features, but as quickly as the smile came it vanished and I could have sworn that for a split second it was replaced with a grave devastation. I gave a little wave.

"Hi Camille- eeell- ull- Cam-eeh-ll" See what I mean?

"Hey Austin, what brings you here?" I was genuinely curious as to what could possibly bring Mr. Science N' Solitude out to a group like The Sharing for movie night. Not only was the setting out of character, but there was nothing "sharing" in Austin's nature; if you even thought about touching his food you'd lose a finger.

"I heard from some people on campus-ussss-pus that The Sharing provides good ties to the community-ety, un-ety, and I am hoping it can further my career." A girl who had been leaning towards Austin as puffing her chest in his direction before now recoiled slightly as if she would catch his stutter.

"Makes scence," I said "but I'm going on the theory that you're secretly here because of your love for kid's movies."

He paused and seemed to have to think it over before flashing a smile which he seemed to be having trouble holding. A worried look crossed his face once again.

"Wha-what brings you here Camille?" he asked.

"My friend from work has been trying to get me to come for ages and I finally cracked. My mom used to be a member, so I figured it might be a nice way to connect to her, and like you said they do have some good ties to the community. Maybe I'll get lucky and the head of a school board will be a huge Finding Nemo fan." I said with a laugh. It was enough f the truth to give me a legitimate reason, and it kept enough out so I could keep from looking like a conspiracy theorist. Austin visibly relaxed.

"So this-ssss is your first time at one of these meetings, eetings-meetings, as well?"

"Yup, I never thought Katrina would get me to come."

"I do not think you should continue to attend," he said abruptly, and the other people at the table who had been deep in conversation began to stare at us. "I-i-it does not seem to be a very stimulating social activity. Tivity. It is exactly like the events that the University provides-ides for its students. Why join another organizzzation that provides identical benefits if not less?"He had a point.

"I probably won't come back, but I at least had to see what everyone was so worked up about. At least there's food-" I immediately regretted mentioning food around Austin and said a silent prayer as asked "I'm starving, do you want me to grab you anything?"

Shockingly, he shook his head and said he had eaten before he came (thank God for small miracles). I excused myself, telling Austin I would be right back, made myself an oversized plate of everything that I could fit onto the red plastic dish, and then took my seat next to Austin after telling Katrina where I was and making sure we had a spot for the movie.

Austin and I talked a little about our one shared class, a mandatory world literature course, until Mr. Chapman stepped up to the podium that was near the projector screen.

"My fellow members of The Sharing and our honored guests, we are so happy to have you all return to yet another meeting of our family." Oh God! I had never seen Chapman beaming like this… it was kind of disturbing. Even Austin seemed to be tense about it. That made me feel a little better, because even if Austin was a bit crazy at least I wasn't the only one who felt that this was overdone. Chapman continued to go on about values and commitment until I wanted to roll my eyes and start heckling him- but then I was distracted.

"Please give a warm welcome to the devoted leader of our branch, Mr. Victor Trent!" and as Chapman backed away (still clapping) to make room for Mr. Trent, Austin froze up so suddenly that his entire body seemed to lurch into an entirely new position.

"Jeez are you okay?" I asked and put what I hoped was a comforting hand on his back.

"F-fine, just need the b-b-bathroom-oom" he stuttered and rose from his seat. He seemed alright, just pale and a little shaky; I would have to check on him in a couple of minutes. I turned my attentions back to Mr. Trent.

I found that he was just as over-the-top as Chapman had been, but there was intensity about him. I could see why Katrina was captivated by him, there was something about him that just pulled you in. You _had_ to look at him, and I wanted to say that it was because of his passion; but there was something more.

The hazel eyes were bright and gleaming, matching the glowing smile that spread from ear to ear. As he concluded his speech, telling us just how special we all were, the smile remained on his face even when he walked away from the podium and back to his main supporters.

I saw Katrina run over to him with Chapman by her side and the two began to chat with Trent intensely. For the first time that night I saw Victor Trent's face without a smile; it was bland. Some women may have found it attractive, it was an "All American boy" look, but it was as plain and cookie cutter as his club; still, there was something about him that was intense and it was not coming from his physical appearance.

The trio headed over to me and once more Mr. Trent's smile was plastered across his dull features. A visit from the fearless leader? Golly-gee I must be important! I rose from my seat as they approached, I felt vulnerable sitting with these three surrounding me.

"So this is Eva's daughter!" Mr. Trent exclaimed with a hand already thrust out to shake mine before he even reached me.

"Yes sir, it's very nice to meet you," I said shaking his hand. I had not noticed until his hand touched mine, but I had been trembling slightly. He looked straight into my eyes and his smile turned into a smirk as he felt me try to return his strong handshake.

"You have a great handshake young lady," he announced as if this was the most impressive thing he had seen today. "I can tell that you'll make a fine addition to our society, just like your mother did. She was a wonderful woman, we all miss her dearly."

'_An addition to your society huh? Cult! Cult!'_ my mind screamed. I wanted to just get through this, nod and go with it, but he wasn't leaving and I _needed_ him to leave. He reminded me of someone. What was it? That was it: IT! Not exactly who but IT! IT aka Pennywise the Dancing Clown from that movie based on the Stephen King book. The plastic smile, too tightly stretched across his face, the deep charismatic voice that drew you in, the image of someone you are supposed to trust and that creepy feeling that he was someone that you should be afraid of even though you didn't know why. If he started passing out balloons I would probably run away screaming and peeing my pants.

"My family and I miss her every day. I felt I should at least see what she had poured her heart into before her passing, The Sharing seemed to be important to her."

"Well we will be expecting to see you at our next meeting. I have some friends who would love to meet Eva's daughter! They're all full members who have risen to amazing heights in the community just by joining the sharing. I'm sure they would love to dedicate some time to helping you with your future." He sounded as if he had rehearsed this speech, but I was not sure how that was even possible.

"That would be wonderful," not really. "Hopefully I can find time between school and work to attend and work with some of them" don't worry about calling me, I'll call you.

"Of course, our members must always be responsible, but please remember that if you ever would like help, in any matter, that The Sharing is a family. Your mother was a part of our family and I can't help but feel a responsibility for your future." I half expected him to try and hug me but the speech did not match the air around him. He was acting gushy and sweet, but I had a feeling that if I tried to hug him he would gouge my eyes out. At least he wasn't asking me to call him 'Uncle Vick'.

"That's very kind of you," I deadpanned. I really was at a loss for words. Thankfully Katrina was not and she and Chapman had started chiming in little bits of information that I was not afraid to walk away from. "Would you mind if I ran to the restroom? I'd like to do so before the movie starts," and after a few half promises to be back in time for the movie and to contact Mr. Trent (who slipped me a card with the number of his office on it) I was off to the restrooms.

I've always found that bathrooms are the best way to escape an awkward situation (so long as the person you're getting away from isn't adamant enough to follow you and wait for you to finish peeing), so I headed to the lady's room and gave myself some time to think by fixing my hair.

Austin! I had forgotten to check on Austin!

I rushed out of the women's room and knocked on the men's room that was directly across from it.

"Occupied." Came a man's gruff voice. Shoot what do you say when the wrong person responds?

"Err umm- is there a young- Austin, you in there?" I hollered. There was a moment of silence.

"Nope, there's no Austin in here hon." The gruff voice replied and I thanked him before leaving. Hopefully Austin was alright. I would probably see him during the movie, and even if he was sick I would see him at school later this week.

When I got back to the main hall it was dark and the movie had started. It was actually cute to see all the kids cuddled up in their blankets as they watched. I looked around for Austin and could not find him, but I did spot Katrina talking with a couple of the full members. I decided to head over to her. Maybe I could convince her to let us leave early since we had already seen Mr. Trent. Right when I was about to reach her, she and her group headed to a doorway that they opened with a number pad security system.

I know in retrospect that seeing a bunch 'full members' from a group that I was suspicious was a creepy cult, that lead to my mom's disappearance, going into a room that had a lock like that on it should have screamed 'run away and never look back!', but instead I followed them. I guess I was hoping to either find more proof or something innocent that would disprove all of my theories, but that was not what I got.

As I headed down the dimly lit hallways of The Sharing's private meeting rooms, I stopped following after Katrina. I wanted to know what was in this secret place that my mother had taken refuge in.

I heard some muffled sounds that I guessed must have been footsteps and possible some sort of heeled shoe, and suddenly a door opened.

I didn't get a chance to see exactly what was coming out of the door, but I did see a serpentine head. A flash of blades and a grayish-green scaled monster passed quickly through my line of vision as something grabbed a hold of my face and right arm, and yanked me into the nearest room.

**Author's Note: Dun-dun-DUUUUUNNNN! Looks like our hero is caught, and since she didn't think things through, she's caught with no way out. So… question time: what do we think of Austin?**

**I should also explain that I've been reading IT by Stephen King lately and as I was writing the description of Visser Three trying to be "bubbly and supportive" all I could think of was the creepy clown going from "here's a nice balloon," to "eat your face!" within seconds. Thinking of him as an IT like character was the only way I could imagine our dear Esplin passing as a peace loving baby kissing leader.**

**And a bigger question: what do you think about me switching off between Austin and Camille's POV from chapter to chapter? It was part of my original plan, but I do feel comfortable with Camille as the narrator for the entire story.**


End file.
